This is a nice short ride on dirt roads.  After an initial climb into the Wildlife Management Area, you'll have shaded dirt road riding with a side trip to Bear Wallow Pond. The ride ends with two miles of downhill back to the car. Because this is a wildlife area, there is very little development and few signs -- it is left quite natural. Don't be surprised to see work details of prisoners from nearby Camp Pharsalia doing maintenance work in the Wildlife Management Area.

11 miles

Beginner -- dirt roads with some moderate climbs.

How To Get There

From Norwich on Route 12, take Route 23 west to North Pharsalia. Park on the south side of the highway on the ample shoulder opposite the large farm in the center of the hamlet.

From Route 81, exit at Whitney Point and follow Route 26 to Lower Cincinnatus and then Route 23 to North Pharsalia.

The Ride

Head east (toward Norwich) on the wide shoulder of Route 23 and after a quarter mile, you will come to an unnamed dirt road that is marked with a "Pharsalia Wildlife Management Area" sign. Turn left and start the steep climb up through an orchard of apple trees.

After a half mile climb, you will be on top and riding through groves of maples on a Jeep trail. At Mile 1, pedal past an abandoned farm house and the state land begins just ahead. This is perfect mountain bike terrain: the road is rutted and often marked with loose rocks and gravel and there are just enough dips and climbs to make it interesting riding.

Pass by a private road on the right at Mile 1.7 and start down a nice little run. Note the stands of mature evergreens on the left. You'll see plenty of these majestic stands before you are done.

This old barn is part of an abandoned farm you'll pass on your ride.

Bear to the right at the intersection at Mile 2 and cruise through the spruces on smooth level road to the next intersection. (Mile 2.6) Note the gnarled old maples lining both sides of the road just prior to the junction.

Head straight down the hill and right away you will come to the unmarked Pigeon Hill Road. Turn left. As you pedal along, ignore the road coming down from the left and continue straight ahead, passing by another private dwelling. There's a cemetery with a well-built slate wall around it on the left as you climb up from the creek crossing and just beyond, a sharp left turn up the hill on Cole Hill Road. (Mile 3.4)

The climb is steep but mercifully short and soon you are pedaling easily on another road lined with maple trees. At Mile 4, turn left and ride the gentle half mile to visit Bear Wallow Pond. Bears or no bears, it's a pretty little pond with dark tannin-colored water.

Bear Wallow Pond

When you return to Cole Hill Road at Mile 5, turn left and continue west. The next mile is easy mountain bike riding on a level dirt road. When you come to the unmarked intersection at Mile 6.3, turn left and cruise down Preserve Road. The next five miles are going to be fun.

Preserve Road is smoother than the roads you have been on. It drops gradually, passing a series of weirs which were built in the Civilian Conservation Corps days to control the brook. At Mile 7.9, at the intersection with Johnson Road, bear right and then take a quick left, continuing your southerly jaunt toward Route 23.

You'll pass the Finger Lakes Trail but stay off that with your bike. Continue ahead and pass by a larger impoundment. At Mile 8.7, you will have your next-to-last climb, a brief one, and then swing down past a beaver pond.

The last mile is a steeper drop. As you descend, you'll be able to see the traffic on Route 23 up ahead. After one last little climb up to the highway at Mile 10, it's an easy trip home.

Cross the highway carefully and turn left, enjoying the cooling descent back to North Pharsalia.

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"Ah, the early English summer, there really is nothing like it. Here in the Wiltshire countryside, west of London, the hedgerows are buzzing and the hills are being hugged by the newfound sun." 

That's from a great post on cycling from London to Bath by Daniel Scott in the Sydney Morning Herald.  He continues:

"As I cycle along the footpath beside the Kennet and Avon Canal, midway through my 220-kilometre journey from the British capital to Bath, there is nowhere else I'd rather be. I've just had a ploughman's lunch at a canal-side pub, I'm exchanging regular pleasantries with the captains of passing narrow boats and my calf muscles are finally warming to the rhythm of my constant pedalling..." (read the whole article)

photo by jasja dekker    

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Bike "9" turns north onto 3rd Street in Waterford. In two miles you will pass a historic marker indicating the furthest north point reached by the crew of Henry Hudson. In the same year that Henry Hudson's crew reached this point, just a few months earlier in 1609, Samuel de Champlain reached what is now Ticonderoga. There, at the instigation of his Huron allies, de Champlain launched a punitive raid against the Iroquois. This began more than a century of hostility between the Iroquois and the French. Sadly too, on his way back down the Hudson River, Henry Hudson found himself at war with the local Indians.

Continue north, passing through Mechanicville to Stillwater (Mile 11). There is a canal park at Lock 4 in Stillwater. From Stillwater, for the next dozen miles, you will be passing through the various historical sites that comprised the Saratoga Battlefield. It is an understatement to say that historic markers abound. There are plenty on both sides of the Hudson, identifying all the sites of the many skirmishes that took place as the British tried to attack and then retreat from the blocking American forces. At Mile 16 is the entrance to the National Historical Park. Be sure to take this detour. There is an entrance fee for cyclists. The park contains a nine-mile loop road (paved) that will take you to all the important sites of the Battle of 1777. Allow yourself several hours as the National Park Service has done a wonderful job of highlighting the principal events of the multi-day battle which took place here. The loop is a quiet one-way roadway which takes you to the commanding "heights" which the American forces had occupied to halt the British advance. The interpretive center will give you much information about the many battles that comprised this campaign which extended into Hubbardton (near Rutland, Vermont) and Walloomsac (near Bennington, Vermont). This was no small campaign. It included naval engagements on Lake Champlain. I, for one, never ceased to be impressed at how so many thousands of troops, of many nationalities, were assembled and competently commanded, in what was certainly a vast wilderness.

Had General Burgoyne succeeded in reaching Albany, and the British campaign in the Mohawk Valley been successful, the Colonies would have been split in two. Instead, the defeat at Saratoga, coupled with the losses in the Mohawk Valley at Oriskany and Fort Stanwix were the first major American victories. The prospect of defeating the British brought the essential French support that was necessary for the Revolution to succeed.

When you exit the park, return to Bike "9" and continue north. At Schuylerville (Mile 24), you'll come to the Schuyler House (1777) where General Burgoyne surrendered after the Battle of Saratoga. Hopefully, you visited the Schuyler Mansion in Albany; this was their summer home. Also near Schuylerville is the 155-foot tall Saratoga Battlefield Monument, a short distance off-route. Road signs will help you locate it easily. The monument, built between1877 and 1883, has been thoroughly reconditioned by the National Park Service. You can climb to an overlook at the top of the obelisk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A new Canal Visitors Center has been opened in Schuylerville, located directly adjacent to Bike Route "9." Adjacent to the Visitors Center is an unpaved stretch of the Champlain Canal towpath, which connects the Schuyler House at the southern end with a small park at Champlain Barge Canal Lock 5. The park contains ruins of old Lock 9 as well as views of an old canal aqueduct. It's a nice historic ending to a ride through history. 

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